Prosecutors Strictly Crack Down on 'Technology Leakage Crimes'... Establish Investigation Support Center

NIS, Ministry of Trade, and FKI Launch 'Technology Leakage Crime Response Network'

Jung Jin-woo, head of the Scientific Investigation Department at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office, is giving a briefing on countermeasures against technology leakage crimes at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office in Seocho-dong on the 27th.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Heo Kyung-jun] The prosecution has decided to establish a new Investigation Support Center to strictly respond to ‘technology leakage crimes’ and conduct cooperative investigations with related agencies.

On the 8th, the Supreme Prosecutors' Office announced that it has transferred the investigation command of technology leakage crimes, previously handled by the Anti-Corruption and Violent Crimes Division, to the Scientific Investigation Department (Cyber Investigation Division), which possesses specialized scientific investigation support personnel, and established the ‘Technology Leakage Crime Investigation Support Center’ within the Scientific Investigation Department.

The prosecution plans to actively carry out intensive investigation command and support, intelligence analysis, and cooperation with related agencies centered on the Technology Leakage Crime Investigation Support Center. Additionally, the prosecution will operate a ‘Technology Leakage Crime Response Network’ through close consultations with government agencies such as the National Intelligence Service, Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, Ministry of SMEs and Startups, Korean Intellectual Property Office, Korea Customs Service, and private organizations such as the Federation of Korean Industries and the Korea Industrial Technology Protection Association.

Technology leakage crimes are characterized by the meticulousness and secrecy of leakage methods, making evidence collection difficult, resulting in many undetected crimes. When suspects resign or flee overseas, securing custody and evidence becomes challenging. For national core technologies, it is impossible to determine market transaction prices, and it is difficult to estimate the scale of damage as comparisons with hypothetical non-leakage situations are complicated.

In the past five years, approximately 112 cases of overseas leaked industrial technologies have been detected, with many cases in the display and semiconductor sectors. Cases of technology infringement against SMEs reached 280 from 2017 to 2021, amounting to approximately 282.7 billion KRW. The prosecution judges that technology theft of SMEs by large corporations is difficult to reveal due to risks such as severed transactions with large corporations, and even when cases are filed, it takes a long time to confirm damages and provide remedies.

Accordingly, the prosecution has established a dedicated investigation department and deployed specialized personnel such as patent attorneys, prosecutors with science and engineering backgrounds, and patent investigation advisors dispatched from the Korean Intellectual Property Office to investigate numerous technology leakage crimes.

However, to provide professional support and command for technology leakage crimes, the prosecution decided to establish an Investigation Support Center within the Supreme Prosecutors' Office Scientific Investigation Department’s Cyber Investigation Division, which enables rapid technical analysis and expert consultation, thereby building an investigation support system. The Cyber Investigation Division can support investigations through source code analysis, large-scale digital evidence search and analysis using specialized programs, and expert advisory committee consultations.

The prosecution plans to strengthen its capabilities to respond to crimes by researching and developing investigation techniques and establishing specialized training courses related to technology leakage crimes to cultivate dedicated investigators.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.